Mushrooms! Should I stop eating them?

[nomorebeer]

Having just read Benjamin’s post about strawberries and strawberry jam, I didn’t realise that the compost that mushrooms are grown in, usually contain straw.

Since January, I have been eating mushrooms almost every day, and I’m not that particular about washing them thoroughly first, if they look clean, then I just toss them in the frying pan and cook them up to eat with my daily omelette, but I have been experiencing discomfort in my stomach similar to being glutened, which I usually down to the eggs maybe upsetting my stomach.

So I did some googling and sure enough, WHEAT STRAW is used in mushroom compost.

So should I now avoid mushrooms altogether, or would they be ok if I scrub them thoroughly before cooking?

This is what I found:

Search 1.

Mushrooms only take five to six weeks to grow and harvest. The farming process needed is all recyclable - they grow in coffee grounds, manure, wheat straw and other organic waste and return key nutrients to the soil when they breakdown

Search 2.

The compost is a mix of straw, corn cobs, horse and poultry manure, peat moss, gypsum and lime. This creates a product that is very high in organic matter that is perfect for mushroom farming. Mushroom spores are injected into the compost and then harvested around three weeks later. The compost is steamed in order to remove any pests or weeds. Farmers will usually get around two or three crops of mushrooms from the compost before they need to change it. It is then recycled as an organic mushroom compost for gardeners.

[Penel]

Perhaps the problem is the amount of mushrooms you are eating?

Mushrooms are a high FODMAPs food, and for some people their digestion will cause discomfort (and gas).

[nomorebeer in reply to Penel]

Could be, I certainly suffer from both! 😮

[Hidden]

Glad I've now got everyone paranoid! I had dried mushrooms a few years back - they were dried, in a jar and manufacturers swore no gluten on site, but I had reaction. I think it was down to the mushrooms contaminated at growing end of the food production. I did ask coeliac uk about this and they told me a) it's not an issue b) just to scrub them really well! Ever tried to scrub a strawberry or a mushroom really well?! I think the only way to know is to cut out the mushrooms for a while and see what happens. We are deperately in need of independent spot check lab testing in the UK. The australian coeliac society provide that service to their members, but no such option in UK. I've even tried to pay a lab to test but they only do commercial customers.

[Whydothis]

I really don't think the straw is an issue! The gluten in wheat is protein, and is in the grains (mainly in the outer part of the grain in fact). I do not believe that wheat straw contains any gluten at all. It is not a dusty straw, so shouldn't contaminate the mushrooms. A quick rinse under the tap would be enough to remove any contamination (but I don't even do that unless they are dirty)I eat a lot of mushrooms with no problems at all, but as Penel says, your system might have a problem with eating too many.

[nomorebeer in reply to Whydothis]

You are probably right, maybe I should cut down on them to see if it makes difference.